GOP Tax Code Reform Plan: Expert Analysis But Not From The GOP

Q&A: Trust this Prize Winner or GOP House Tax Writer

(Not a rhetorical question either)

This post reinforces my earlier post (next post below).

This is an update from Paul Krugman (2008 Nobel Prize winner for economics) Op-ed from the NY Times (in Alternet.org), and five key points he raises which I have highlighted to get your attention (my emphasis added):

1.  What we’re witnessing now is the end of the charade, the political equivalent of what happened when graduates of Trump University tried to get some value in return for their money.

2.  Budget wonks are frantically going through the legislative language, trying to figure out what it means and what it would do — but they can take some comfort in the fact 

that the bill’s authors are almost equally in the dark.

3.  O.K., some things are clear: The bill would give huge tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy, especially wealthy heirs, while opening vast new opportunities for tax avoidance. You won’t go far wrong if you think of the big tax cuts in the law as having been custom designed to benefit the Trump family.

4.  But these big tax cuts would blow a multitrillion-dollar hole in the budget, so Republicans have been scrambling to find “pay-fors” that limit the addition to the deficit. What they came up with was a hodgepodge of stuff: ending deductions for some state and local taxes, limiting deductions for mortgage interest, phasing out child tax credits, and so on.

5.  The big question should be, why do any of this? Ryan used to claim that his plans were about reducing the budget deficit, but he has now given up that pretense.

Here is a short answer to #5 question above with one added question: And why should tax cuts even be on the table? 

Five more points Krugman hits on: (1) We have budget deficits, not surpluses; (2) lots of unmet needs for future spending; (3) U.S. taxes are low, not high, compared with other wealthy countries; (4) predictions that tax cuts will lead to rapid economic growth have been wrong time and again, and by large margins; and (5) voters want taxes on corporations and the wealthy to go up, not down.

Krugman’s conclusion (I totally agree with): The ruling theory among Republicans seems to be that going into the midterm elections they need a “win” to offset their failure to repeal Obamacare. I guess this might be right, although it’s a theory that reveals extraordinary contempt for voters, who are supposed to be impressed by the GOP’s ability to ram through policies that only benefit a tiny elite.

There is not much I can add to this except to reinforce the “con-man” game with your money, our future, and seeing all this in the hands of two of best in this game and yes, it is a game – they are Trump and Ryan and this lousy “plan” … wait and see.

The Krugman piece is a super guide to all this. Read it and follow his well-informed logic in other economic news and matter – he knows this a heluva lot better than Trump, Ryan, and the entire GOP budget cut and paste operatives.

For your leisure reading here is the House Bill (in .pdf format / total 429 pages). It is officially H.R. 1 short title: “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” – always a slick short fancy title with little or no positive substance – nothing new about that stunt. 

In this bill I particularly like the GOP's routine use of the cover label (limp excuse really) “jobs.” Always used and always catchy, um? Seems to always reinforce their trickle down angle?

As always thanks for stopping by.